Different way to get community feedback?

atomicdomb

Hello all!

So I've been struggling with this idea for a while.
You see, the game we have been developing is randomly generated with rogue-like elements to it. This means that there is a ton of replayability and lots of different approaches one can use to beat the respective dungeons.

Whenever we make a trailer or video we find that it never really captures all elements of the game as we want it to, especially with reference to showing the players different strategies and approaches. So I thought, why not start a YouTube channel where we upload weekly game-play videos showing various dungeon runs to the players using different strategies with a Developer commentary on said strategy. This could showcase to the player solid game-play and also allow the community to comment with feedback and ideas for new items or enemies.

What do you guys think? Is it viable to start a YouTube channel dedicated to game-play for both player feedback and marketing?
Thanks!

EvanGreenwood

I know this is one of the problem's QCF mentioned they had. That a great part of the appeal of Desktop Dungeons is in the staggering amount of meaningful choices the player faces, and this is difficult to convey in a video. (Whereas our game for instance is much more action orientated, and that makes making trailers a lot easier).

Making it easier for your community to post videos, and encouraging them to do so, certainly sounds like a good idea. It sounds like it might get some players more involved and improve retention and advocacy.

Although it sounds like it might not help that much in helping market the game to new players. Unless some playthroughs that come out of it are really interesting and you can get some websites interested in running a story on Pixelboy... I suspect you'd have better results in getting current players more engaged in your game that getting new players to notice it.

That's just my thoughts though. I don't have the experience to really back that up.

atomicdomb

@BlackShipsFiltheSky I fully agree with you. Certain games benefit from video content more than others. I was having this same discussion with a friend of mine. We came to the conclusion that if a game like "Thomas Was Alone" (A highly story driven game) were to upload many gameplay videos they would ultimately spoil the story for players who watch the videos and this would affect them negatively, however a Demo which sucks the player into the story and then cuts them off once they are interested will benefit them much more. They actually do follow the Demo model

On the other hand Pixel Boy has randomly generated levels and items meaning that if one uploads videos playing the first couple of levels in a variety of different ways it can show the player the amount of options they have and successfully showcase the game without giving up to much story.

From a marketing perspective that is exactly what we want to do :)! We want to get current players more engaged in the game through the videos with the hopes that they will share the videos or tell their friends about their game.

dislekcia

I'm not convinced that developers doing lets-play style videos of their own game is a good thing for people to watch, especially if the game has loads of possibilities and situational gameplay. I've found that what keeps happening when I try to do DD vids is that I end up talking tons about the possible depth of a different situation than the one I'm playing in or I talk about strategies that I'm not using and win anyway. It kinda makes the game look easy...

One of the best ways to get people to see there's tons of stuff in your game is to start a wiki. As soon as there's a wiki about a game, it's got to be deep and complex, right? ;) But seriously though, starting a wiki not only created a place for players to help other players, it also created a wonderful place for people to showcase lets-play videos for us.

After all, always have your community of players producing content for you if you can possibly help it. So forms and a wiki are really great at driving players to show off your game for you with less investment from your part.